NSW Fellows' Forum 2026 Program
| Time | Session | Speakers / Presenters |
|---|---|---|
| 9:30am – 10:00am | Registration and networking | |
| 10:00am – 10:10am | Welcome, Acknowledgement of Country and Opening remarks | Prof Tracey O’Brien AM |
| 10:10am – 11:10am | Panel: Defining Success in Your Research Career | A/Prof Liz Caldon (Garvan) A/Prof James Lynam (CINSW) Dr Nicola Straiton (ACU) A/Prof James Wilmott (MIA) |
| 11:10am – 11:20am | Short break / Transition | |
| 11:20am – 12:30pm | Guest speaker: Building Successful Teams & Defining Success | Prof Noushin Nasiri (Macquarie) |
| 12:40pm – 1:30pm | Lunch | |
| 1:30pm – 2:30pm | Workshop: Becoming a research leader - Part 1 | Prof Emeritus Janet Verbyla, Research Coaching Australia |
| 2:30pm – 2:50pm | Afternoon break | |
| 2:50pm – 3:50pm | Workshop: Becoming a research leader - Part 2 | Prof Emeritus Janet Verbyla Research Coaching Australia |
| 3:50pm – 4:00pm | Closing remarks | Ms Maria Mury |
Speakers
Professor Noushin Nasiri
Professor Noushin Nasiri leads the NanoTech Laboratory in the School of Engineering, at Macquarie University. She is a materials scientist and engineer whose research integrates smart nanomaterials, nanoengineered sensors, and translational device technologies. As a former Cancer Institute NSW Fellow, her work focused on the development of SunWatch, a wearable UV-sensing technology designed to support personalised sun-safety monitoring and skin cancer prevention. (Show more)
Associate Professor Liz Caldon
A/Prof Liz Caldon is a Lab Head at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. Liz completed an MSc at University of Toronto, and PhD at UNSW Sydney. She is currently the AGCF (Australian Gynaecological Cancer Foundation) Fellow and supported by the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Liz’s team investigates how breast and ovarian cancers develop resistance to standard of care therapies. Of particular interest to the group is how cancer cells treated with cytostatic therapies can co-opt different biological pathways to survive metastasise. Liz’s work aims to apply insights from cancer biology to develop new therapeutic targets that can improve clinical outcomes.
Associate Professor James Lynam
Associate Professor James Lynam is the Senior Clinical Advisor for the Cancer Institute NSW (CINSW). As a practicing Medical Oncologist specialising in Brain, Genitourinary and Gastrointestinal malignancies, he provides clinical insight into the activities and priorities of the CINSW. (Show more)
Dr Nicola Straiton
Dr Nicola Straiton is a nurse and Senior Research Fellow in Implementation Science at the Nursing Research Institute, a collaboration between St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, and Australian Catholic University. Her research focuses on cardiovascular disease, health services research, frailty and implementation science. (Show more)
Associate Professor James Wilmott
Associate Professor James Wilmott is an internationally recognised leader in cancer immunology and cancer genomics at the University of Sydney. He leads precision driven, multidisciplinary research programs that integrate genomic science, tumour immunology and advanced analytics to improve cancer diagnosis, patient stratification and treatment. (Show more)
Professor Emeritus Janet Verbyla
Janet Verbyla is Professor Emeritus and currently Honorary Professor at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) where she was Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor heading the Academic Division from 2012 to early 2018. Commencing as an active teaching and research academic in software and information engineering, Janet has progressed through a wide range of university academic executive and management roles culminating in serving as Interim Vice-Chancellor for much of 2017. (Show more)
